Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 14:56:54 -0300
From: MRA NB
Subject: Child or Rena 1
This is a work of fiction; any resemblance to persons living or dead is
entirely coincidental. This is the property of the author and is not to be
copied without permission.
If you are looking for sex this story not for you, even any gay content
wont be appearing until the second or third chapter.
I hope you all like this story and feel free to send comments to
MRACoR@hotmail.com
Child of Rena
Chapter 1
The First Disciple
By MRA
Cy woke with a start and a jolt of pain from the back of his head. He
couldn't seem to focus his mind enough to recall what happened, or
where he was. His right eye was swollen completely shut and his left was
about half way there. His vision in his one working eye was a little
foggy. He felt sore everywhere and some of it must be partially from the
fact he seemed to be laying on a cold stone floor. The cold didn't
bug him, cold never did, and the floor wasn't anything new he had slept in
many worse places and conditions. He tried to stand up but an immense pain
shot through his entire body and he realized his leg was broken. He let out
a loud gasp followed quickly by an equally loud, "FUCK".
"I see your mouth is still uncouth after our little lesson," the speaker
laughed, "Maybe I should cut out your tongue and do the world a service."
The voice sounded cruel and snobbish. It had a noble accent which meant he
was probably in more trouble then usual. Worse was the fact he didn't feel
his travelling bag anywhere near him and if someone looked through there
and had any brains he was probably a goner. The fact he was still alive
probably meant no one had looked in it yet.
Suddenly he got a flash of memory, a group of men on horse back following a
carriage quickly through the streets. The carriage made a sudden turn it
almost ran Cy down forcing him to jump to the side, right into a mud
puddle, that indignity was quickly followed by a splash of mud from the
wheel of the carriage. The riders following loudly laughed at his plight.
With his usual tact and diplomacy Cy yelled after them a string of words he
couldn't even now remember but apparently the sheltered noble lady in the
carriage had been horrified and her escort had sought to fix the problem.
Also he remember making a few choice comments about there backgrounds and
parentage as they approached him. His brilliant mouth has got him into
trouble once again. At least they don't yet seem to realize anything about
him so he should be able to figure a way out of this.
His vision in his left eye was starting to clear and he concentrated on
trying to focus his body to heal the damage there first since there wasn't
much he could do if he couldn't see. Now his mind was clearing he was able
to quickly take stalk of the damage to his body. Besides the black and
swollen eyes and broken leg he had 5 broken rib and 4 cracked ones, there
was a crack in the back of his skull from being hit hard with something
blunt and heavy, and his body was covered in many fresh bruises and cuts,
most shallow but a few were relatively serious. After he got his eye healed
he would focus his body on trying to restore the more serious of the wounds
since he knew he probably wouldn't survive if he left them to their own. He
knew his first priority would have to be patching himself up enough to get
him out of there before they realized any of his secrets.
Finally his was clear enough to see his surroundings. He was lying on the
floor of a small cell with no windows visible from his angle and iron bars
facing him, he had to hide a small laugh with a forced cough before his
captors realized something wasn't right. Getting out of here would be easy
as long as he could muster enough of his strength to get himself moving.
There were two guards one was obviously the regular guard for these cells,
he looked upset that the other man was here forcing him to act alert when
he would probably rather be sleeping away his duty. The other man was the
one who had spoken and he looked the part of a minor noble in service to
someone who actually had power. He was dressed in the livery of Lady
Nalversa, the fiancee of Herisar, the emperor's only son. Just his luck, he
thought, he had to curse out one of the most powerful people in the entire
empire, but as always his luck was two sided, if it would have been a less
important noble they probably would have just killed him and gotten it over
with but since this was a High Lady she had to make sure she soothed her
wounded pride and probably torture him to death. All he cared was that he
would live long enough to escape...again. The fake cough seemed to
encourage the pompous bastard to continue his tirade against his wounded
prisoner.
"I bet you regret your foul language now whoreson bastard."
He laughed at his own insult. How pathetic Cy thought especially since he
really was a bastard and the son of a whore.
"Wow, you knew my mother, did you happen to be in Rena around twenty three
years ago, you might be my father since you look the type that has to make
use of whores."
Cy knew baiting him wasn't probably the smartest thing but he loved trying
to get people riled up. Mentioning Rena hurt a little; it had been his home
for his first eight years. It used to be the capital of the old Kingdom of
Renar before the Kingdom of Kabel conquered them on its rise to forming the
current empire. Renar was once a great kingdom forged strong in the cold
north, but had already fallen to corruption and greed before they Kabel
even marched there first army into the land. Now Rena was a dying city, its
buildings are rotting and crumbling, its ancient walls were falling down,
and old gates rusting. Its people followed suit, they were mostly poor and
many were sickly, disease was common, murder, rape, and robbery were
everyday occurrences. It is ironic how perfect that city was for him to
grow into whom and what he is today and how much it mirrored who he was. It
was a city of survivors and that is what Cy has always been first and
foremost.
The noble prick actually sputtered with rage and followed it with something
that sounded a lot like a growl, "How dare you suggest such a thing, I am
Velar Osthon guard captain for the High Lady Nalversa, former sword master
of the Imperial Academy of Kabel."
Wow this guy isn't just some pompous noble. House Osthon isn't a great
house but it has a lot of power, influence, and wealth. The Imperial
Academy only takes the best on as students and its masters are the best of
the best. Cy was impressed, impressed enough to change his mind about the
guy, he had planned on a painful death but decided he could have a use for
the prick. Thankfully the regular jailer laughed at his reaction which made
Velar turn on him, giving Cy a chance to look around the room without being
observed. He saw his bag on the desk still thankfully unopened, it looked
like it had just been thrown there and forgotten. Suddenly Velar turned
back on him and he wasn't quick enough in removing his gaze from his bag
and the prick took note of it.
"Do you want that?" Velar said with an arrogant smirk, "I wonder what you
have in there, an extra set of rags to wear, maybe some shiny rocks. Let's
take a look."
He strode towards the desk and pulled the string that held it shut and
dumped it onto the desk. Both him and the jailer stared in surprise at the
contents. There were two changes of clothes; one looked like it would be
common on any middle class worker, far better then what he was wearing at
the moment. The other was much higher quality and looked as if a minor
noble or successful merchant would wear it. Also they saw a sheathed
dagger, the handle and sheath were made of carved bone while the guard on
it was polished silver. Also a series of small containers fell, twelve in
all. A bag of what was obviously gold and silver coins fell with a loud
bang which made the jailer jump and Velar stare, it was a large size
bag. Cy could see that Velar had realized that bag of coins would have
weighed more then my entire bag had when he picked it up. Two books fell on
the table written in a script Velar obviously didn't recognize since he
wasn't pulling his sword to cut Cy down. Two rings hit the desk one made of
bone with engravings covering it and the other silver with a small dark red
gem in it. A small made of dark coloured petrified wood covered in red
symbols. The rest was much more mundane; food and basic travelling gear.
"What is all this, why do you dress as a pauper if you have such obvious
wealth. Also what are all these curious objects?" Velar asked. Cy realized
he had to come up with a lie, one that would satisfy him, since he had yet
to realize the significance of the objects on the desk.
"I travel a lot and make a point of looking for curious things wherever I
go. I find things or buy them from people who don't have a clue what they
are, I seldom know what they are. I sell them to collector and sometimes
mages if I find something they might have an interest in."
Velar seemed to be buying it, "What about the clothes, you are wearing
almost rags and you have much better clothing available."
"Easy to explain, if you travelled alone and carried lots of valuable
things would you want people to think you had anything worth robbing." Cy
countered.
"True." This guy really was stupid, I was pulling this story out of my ass
as I went along and he seemed perfectly content buying. He even seemed to
forget Cy was his prisoner for the moment.
Cy figured he could try to escape with a different method then he had
planned, "I have contacts waiting to receive this objects so I hope we can
settle these matters soon I would hate to anger my clients, some of them
are quite powerful."
This was a big mistake. Since it seemed to remind Velar of the current
power dynamics between them and of why Cy was a prisoner.
"You are not getting out of here until High Lady Nalversa has taken the
price of have to hear your foul language out of your hide. She might even
claim some of your possessions as payment."
Cy almost jumped at him even with the bars between them but he held his
calm, his face always appeared calm, he had learned to school his
expressions so only what he wanted to show was visible. Cy knew if he
mentioned a few names of powerful people he might be able to still work his
way out with having to kill someone or worse, but he decided he liked the
other option more now. Just then Velar turned his attention to the
containers on the desk and picked up one.
"What are in these?"
"Some spices, nothing really special, also stuff to make salves and some
basic medicines." Cy said hoping didn't start opening them. Of course his
luck is always two sided so Velar opened the one he was holding and it was
salt which no one would question a traveller carrying. He grabbed another
one and opened it, this one wasn't so common, actually if he spills Cy
planned on ripping his throat out since it is extremely hard to come by and
if his plan worked out he would need some of it soon. By now the jailer was
also eagerly watching the raping of my possessions and was standing beside
the idiot to see into the containers.
"What this black powder it smells funny, almost like smoke or something
burning."
"It used in making burn poultices, its rare so it also sells for a good
price. Its good to have on you, if you get burned you make a poultice, if
you find a buyer you make good money."
Cy was proud of his lie since not only did the prick forget his doubt, he
also held it much more carefully now he had greed in his eyes. He put it
back and grabbed another one and opened it and Cy wanted to laugh when he
realized what it was. This would make his escape much simpler and it
wouldn't be too much of a waste since it wasn't that hard to replace now
all he needed to do was get them both close to the bars, and he had an
idea. Hopefully they were both as stupid as he thought they were.
"What is this powder it is sort of bluish, a very light blue." Velar said.
Cy schooled his face into a look of confusion and said, "Light blue and a
powder I didn't think I had anything like that at all, are you sure it came
from my bag and wasn't on the desk before. Bring it let me see if I can
identify it, it might be valuable."
Instantly Velar started walking towards the cell and surprisingly it was
the jailer who showed caution and stood back suddenly wary. Cy still had
one last idea before he was forced to abandon subtlety. As Velar made it
the bars and showed Cy the powder Cy let his eyes widen and gasped out,
"This was in my bag, I had no idea, I AM RICH!" He ended with a small
yell. The jailer ran forward and both he and Velar stared at the powder, so
close their head were touching.
"What is it?" They both said in almost perfect union while staring at this
apparently substance. Cy answered by whistling. The force of the air
leaving his lips hit the fine powder sending it flying into the faces of
the idiots. They coughed and rubbed their faces and at their eyes as the
winter's breath burned with cold fire on there skin and in there mouth and
lungs. Cy altered the tune of his whistle and they both dropped to the
ground paralyzed still living but unable to move. The container hit the
ground spilling the last of the winter's breath to the floor, causing a
small burst of fog to spread as the dust was hit by warm air. After a few
seconds of open contact with the air it begins to lose its blue colour and
turn gray.
Cy laughed out loud at the dimwits now lying on the ground, he saw a look
of horror cover the faces of the two paralyzed men. He hadn't paralyzed
them completely, even though he could have, his spell had only caused the
winter's breath to freeze movement in their arms and legs; it also made it
so they couldn't make any noise.
Unfortunately the guard didn't have the keys on him, they were on the desk,
and Cy was not the type of magic user who could levitate things or use
telekinesis.
"You bastard why couldn't you have just kept the keys on you it would make
it so much simpler," Cy laughs, "but don't worry I will be out quickly
enough and then I can thank the Lord Velar for his hospitality earlier."
Velar whimpered and Cy laughed again much louder and darker sounding this
time.
Cy looks around and laughs again this time much nicer sounding since he
realizes that they put him in a cell someone of his talents could escape
with ease from. He looked at the old slightly rusted iron bars, they were
in pretty good shape compared to some of the other cells Cy had found
himself in but they were not perfectly maintained either. All he needed was
a little rust shaving and some water to get out of here. He easily found
lots of small shards of rust but the realized the bastards hadn't even
given him any water, he looked over at them and smirked, they would pay
anyway for it all so what is one more crime against him. He closed his eyes
and started a low hum, he could feel the moisture in the air all he had to
do was contrite it and cool it down over his hand. He continued humming
slowly altering the volume and intensity as he felt the moisture gathers
over his hand holding the rust. He quickly turned his hum into a quiet but
high pitched whistle and the air around him began to cool and water started
to form in his hands. Cy stopped his whistle and had to smile, a year ago
he would never have had the skill or patience to perform the subtle aspects
of his magic such as summoning water from the air. It might not be a
nothing compared to many of the other feats he had performed in the way of
power but it showed his skills and control was improving greatly.
He stirred the water with the rust while blowing into the mixture, his
breath suddenly cold, the mixture started to become sticky, like glue. He
walked over to the door of the cell and applied the goo in his hand to the
lock, inside and out, and then stepped back and started to hum and quickly
changed over to a low tune in a language where the words seemed to blend to
together so you couldn't tell them apart, it came out sounding like a
strong wind blowing through trees with the words almost lost in the general
tone of it all. Before his eyes he watched the lock rust and age as if it
had be left to the rain and wind for a hundred years. All it took was a few
seconds for the lock and the bar around it to rust until it was too frail
and broke of the door and feel to the floor. Cy pushed open the door and
then looked to his "captors" and smiled cruelly.
Cy's body was still badly damaged and would take a long time to completely
repair itself even with his abilities aiding it, time he couldn't afford to
wait. He had repaired his leg to the point he could limp on it but that
wouldn't do and many of his other injuries were still causing him pain,
more pain then most humans would be able to bear but to Cy only a mild
inconvenience. He figured he should correct that problem first before he
moved on to the other activities he had planned. He leaned down and put his
hand on the center of the paralyzed and terrified jailer's chest and once
again started to hum but this a faster and move energetic tune. The
Jailer's body convulsed for a second before going still... completely
still. Cy felt his wounds heal within seconds of the man's death with still
plenty of energy taken for what he was planning for his new friend Velar,
who was at this point wiggling in fear trying to move away without the use
of his arms and legs, Cy laughed. Cy went over to the table and started to
put his things back into his bag. All he left out was his silver dagger,
the container filled with the black powder and the one with salt, and the
small petrified wood case.
First Cy drew the silver dagger from the sheath and approached Velar. Velar
start wiggling desperately but Cy simply pushed him flat on his back and
placed the Dagger on Velar's chest so the hilt was directly over his heart
and pointed towards his head, instantly Velar stopped struggling. Next he
took the container of salt and started to pour it in a thin line around
Velar's body all the while humming a tune. He open the wooden case which
was sealed by a complex locking device, that's had cost Cy a fortune to
make, activated by holding four pressure points hidden over the surface of
the box. A magically sealed box would have been easier but then any mage
powerful enough would have been able to find a way to open it. The box
opened to reveal six small flute and five candles made of red wax. Cy took
the five candles and set them around the circle of salt. Each one was
placed in the salt at the closest point on the salt line to Velar's head,
hands, or feet. Cy touched each one and with a low whistle they lit with a
pale blue flame. This accomplished Cy inspected the line until he was
satisfied and then let out a quick series of whistles that removed his
earlier spell from Velar. He couldn't move since the dagger's magic held
him but he could now speak again. He quickly made use of this ability.
"HELP, SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!"
His only response was Cy's laughter and replying with, "Thanks to the
circle of salt I am the only one who can hear you so yell all you want."
Velar looked up at him unable to move his head only his eyes and asked,
"Are you going to kill me?"
"That depends on if I am right and you might be able to serve a purpose for
me." Cy responded.
"I will do anything you ask, anything." Velar whimpered.
"Of course you will, but first answer me a few questions. First, you said
you were a sword mater of the Imperial Academy. What is your rank in the
way of the blade and what knowledge do you have of strategy?"
"I hold seventh rank in the way of the blade and may take my testing for
eighth next time I return to the Imperial Academy." The way of the blade is
an art form among the Warriors of Kabal, the greatest warriors on the
continent. Few ever rise beyond third rank though so Velar was truly
skilled since tenth was the highest someone could rise. "I have commanded
the forces in the Yel campaigns at the Battle of Selen Heights and was
third in command under General Sertalar at Jergen and Metoh."
Cy was surprised this guy might be arrogant but he had good reason for
it. Now there was only one more thing he wanted to know before he finished
the ritual. "What is Lady Nalversa doing in Erus, a port city like this
isn't where the fiancee of the Imperial heir would normally be found. Erus
is about as far as you could get from the capital so I am guessing her
business here is not quite official."
Velar paled and said, "I cant say anything, I could never betray my
mistress. I would die!"
Cy's silver eyes flared with anger, "What do you think will happen here if
you don't answer me."
Velar's eyes were filled with fear and his voice trembled as he said, "No,
I mean if I say anything I will die, there was a spell put on me by...."
With that his body started to convulse slightly and the candles dimmed
slightly. Cy swore quickly before starting a chanting song that sounded
like the wail of the damned carried on the wind. The candles quickly
stabilized and Velar stopped convulsing. With the wards secured Cy quickly
grabded one of the flutes out of the petrified wood case, the whistle
looked like it was made of red glass. Cy pressed to his lips and began to
play a tune that was fast, lively, and horrible in a way that couldn't be
described by mortals. He focused his will on the now retreating tendril of
magic that had attempted to kill Velar. Suddenly he found a connection and
he could visualize a small old man bent over a golden bowl filled with
black water. The man looked shaken since he probably hadn't expected to
have to battle a ward to deliver the killing spell, a ward that was
different then anything he had probably ever encountered. The man was a
wizard, practiced in the way of gathering the latent energies of the world
and making them obey his will and word. Not just a wizard but most likely
an archmage or adept judging from the force that had went with the killing
spell. The man looked confused since he was suddenly hearing strange music
in his chamber, then a look of horror came to his face as he realized what
was happening and quickly started chanting. He realized he wasn't under
attack as a whole, his heart was the target of the spell and it was already
beating fast from the adrenaline of his earlier casting. Cy's song
increased its rate faster and in response the men heart beat faster. Just
as the wizards spell was reaching its climax Cy stopped and the wizard
collapsed since when the song had stopped so did his heart.
Cy was sweating and tired, not only did he have to use his energy to cast
the spell, he had to use his will to force a whole in defences cast both
around the room the wizard was in and the wizard himself. Added to all this
was the energy he had used to heal himself and what he had already put into
the ritual and that the beating earlier had left him weakened in general he
was impressed he was only sweating and panting a little. He also felt he
still had plenty of strength left to complete the ritual, all he needed was
a quick break.
Just then he realized that Velar was staring at him was awe and fear. Cy
also realized that he was feeling those emotions too. What had just
happened had managed to form a basic mental bond between them, this was
interesting Cy thought. It must have been since the attack had happened
during the middle of the ritual the powers had forced a connection, also
there had been a different sort of bond placed on Velar, a bond of
servitude, which had transferred to Cy as well as the other bond. This
would come in handy, Cy smiled.
"I know you saw the battle tell me what you know of the mage who attacked
you." Cy said. He seemed hesitant to answer and Cy quickly was able to
sense why, "Don't worry the bond that held you in service snapped and is
now ironically connected to me. So now you are in my service and once I
finish this ritual they won't be able to have anymore power over you at
all, and you should have the power to get some revenge if you desire it."
With that Velar faced grew a cruel smile and Cy sensed revenge was
something he wanted badly, revenge and power, and that was what Cy was
offering....for a price.
"I don't know his name but I remember he was an archmage from Laniam and
helped force the binding on me to make me serve Lady Nalversa. Lady
Nalversa is here because she wishes to be Empress not just consort, she
plans on overthrowing the imperial family with the aid of many mages and
nobles who feel oppressed by the Emperor and the power he represents. She
is meeting with several nobles in her service and representatives from
several magic academies."
Truly interesting Cy thought, what perfect timing. The nobles hated the
Emperor for having so much power over them. Mages would hate him since him
and his family and many of his allies were dragon blooded, meaning they
could innately call upon mighty magic without the years of study required
by wizards. The Emperor's throne was in the city of Kabel, in what used to
be called the Kingdom of Kabel before they conquered the twelve kingdoms of
Canreen. The throne of Kabel had always been called the Dragon Throne and
the entire royal family had varying degrees of dragon blood in their
veins. This was achieved since Kabel had allied themselves eight hundred
years ago to an alliance of the few remaining dragons left in Canreen. Now
dragons were numerous once again and they added their blood to the royal
line and those of some of the great nobles of Kabel. Kabel had strong
magics they could call on, innate dragon blood as well as skilled wizards,
sorcerers, and clerics, and superior troops. It had only taken them forty
years to bring all twelve kingdoms under their power. Now a foolish girl
and some mages were going to try to challenge that, all the power to them
it would make Cy's plans all the easier.
Cy smiled and stood up and went to retrieve the container holding the black
powder and a flute made of bone. He kneeled beside Velar and began a
pulsing hum that Velar could swear he felt in his bones and blood. First Cy
dipped his index finger in the black powder and then began to draw a symbol
on Velar's forehead. He dipped his finger in again and then began putting a
different symbol on the palm of each hand followed by a new symbol on the
inside of each wrist. He continued laying symbols across Velar's body; he
removed his boots and drew them on the feet and ankles, then the throat and
on each cheek. He willed Velar to close his eyes and added more symbols on
each eye lid. By this time Cy was dripping sweat, everything that had
happened today paled in comparison to what Cy was doing now his power was
taxed to the limit and he pushed it further. He lifted the silver dagger
from Velar's chest and slit his palm open and held his hand over Velar's
forehead and as Cy's blood hit the symbol it began to glow with pale light
and then disappear. He followed this by adding his blood to each of the
symbols until all had faded. He changed his humming to a low whistle as he
raised the dagger and then quickly brought it down piercing Velar's heart.
"If you wish to live say after me, I Velar swear by blood and bone to serve
you with my life and soul eternal."
"I Velar Osthon, son and heir of Lord Trar Othan, swear by blood and bone
to serve you with my life and soul eternal" Cy was surprised by the
strength and conviction behind the oath, he wasn't saying this because he
was afraid of death, he was saying it because he realized he was being
offered power, power to achieve revenge on those who had harmed him and
power to make his a name to be feared. He didn't even care about the price
that came with it, Cy smiled widely. With the oath sworn Cy lifted the
bone flute and admired it, few mages of any discipline were ever willing to
create such an object. It was made from his own bones, both it and the
handle of the silver dagger, removing the bones and regrowing them had been
the most painful experience of his life but it was easily worth it. He
began to play a song that seemed to push all the heat out of the room and
Velar's body yet he didn't feel cold even though he knew he should. The
song had the sound of the great wind and it almost sounded as if words were
being chanted even though Cy still had the flute to his lips.
As the song continued to rise to its climax the dagger began to rise out of
Velar's chest and Velar felt something within him change, he knew then he
could never go back on what he just did...but he didn't care, he could feel
a new power rising and knew he had to stand with it or be swept out of it
way. Velar had a vision of armies marching under his command, his enemies
falling before for himor begging to serve him, of walking down any street
and all bowing their heads in respect to his power, and of him standing
eternally in guard to his new lord...He was the first disciple of this new
power but wouldn't be the last. He sensed his master's will, his master
wished to return to Rena, everything would begin in Rena. The Child of Rena
was returning home, the dying land of Renar would be reborn...reborn in
blood.
Please send any comments to mailto:MRACoR@hotmail.com
I hoped you enjoyed it.